A pair of the more historically rich franchises in all of baseball will continue their four-game series at Busch Stadium as the Los Angeles Dodgers battle it out with the St. Louis Cardinals on national television. Let's take an exclusive sneak peek at our MLB odds series where our Dodgers-Cardinals prediction and pick will be revealed.
After getting bombarded with runs in Thursday night's action by a score of 16-8, the Dodgers reversed the script only a day later by shutting out the Cardinals 5-0. With wins in six of their last eight games overall, Los Angeles will send out righty Noah Syndergaard who is 1-3 with a 5.94 ERA to begin the season. In his last start, the former Met and Angel pitched four innings and surrendered two runs on four hits en route to the no-decision.
Without a doubt, the past two games for the Cardinals at the plate tell the story of extreme inconsistency. While St. Louis hitters were raking the baseball like it was a beach ball on Thursday, they left six men on base and failed to create any sort of traffic on the base paths in yesterday's defeat. Nevertheless, it is a new day for this Cardinals squad as they will have RHP Miles Mikolas who has tallied a 2-1 record to go along with a 4.91 ERA up to this point.
Here are the Dodgers-Cardinals MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Dodgers-Cardinals Odds
Los Angeles Dodgers: +1.5 (-192)
St. Louis Cardinals: -1.5 (+158)
Over: 9 (-114)
Under: 9 (-106)
How To Watch Dodgers vs. Cardinals
TV: Fox
Stream: Fox Sports App
Time: 7:15 ET/4:15 PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Dodgers Could Cover The Spread
Entering play today as the betting favorites, the most simple task that the Dodgers need to accomplish if they are going to cover the spread and ultimately win will be extra careful with Noah Syndergaard when he sets foot on the mound.
More specifically, Syndergaard's health has been up and down since becoming a Dodger, as it was only eleven days ago when he had to leave an appearance due to a cut on his finger and has been the subject of not being very durable over the last several years. Still, Syndergaard shows glimpses from time to time of him turning back the clock into his flame-throwing self and will certainly need to bring his A game against one of the more dynamic lineups in the game in the Cardinals.
In addition, be on the lookout for what this Los Angeles Dodgers lineup can bring as they boast the fourth-most runs and a top-five slugging percentage so far this season. Clearly, the Dodgers bats most dangerous element is their ability to hit the long ball, as it turned out to be Mookie Betts who inflicted damage upon St. Louis on Friday with a three-run moonshot to put the Dodgers up 4-0 in the top of the 8th. If the Cardinals aren't sharp with the location of their pitches, then the Dodgers will make them pay in a big way.
Why The Cardinals Could Cover The Spread
With this series tied at one game apiece with two matchups to go over the next couple of days, the St. Louis Cardinals are in the midst of an attempt to dig themselves out of a deep hole. At one point, the ‘Cards were 10-24, and beginning to hit the panic button even with so many more games to be played. Fortunately, St. Louis has come out victorious in nine out of their last 12 games and seem to finally be trending in the right direction in the later stages of May.
When it comes to finding a way to cover the spread versus the Dodgers later this evening, the main component that the Cardinals need to take care of is a better approach at the plate. Far too often, Cardinals hitters sound themselves down in the count on Friday which made it very difficult for them to produce productive at-bats. On paper, the Cardinals happen to rank within the top ten in runs scored, batting average, on-base percentage, and even slugging percentage, so don't expect St. Louis to be as lackluster at the dish.
Not only will the offense have to step up in a big way, but it has been rather encouraging to see Miles Mikolas start to find his groove as of late. In fact, Mikolas has only surrendered ten runs in his last 33 1/3 innings compared to giving up 17 runs in his first 14 1/3 innings to begin the season. No question, Mikolas is pitching far more effectively and should be a formidable force for the Dodgers' offense.
Final Dodgers-Cardinals Prediction & Pick
This game has all of the makings to be as entertaining as it gets! However, side with the Cardinals in this one to bounce back in a big way at home to treat their fans with a covering of the spread.
Final Dodgers-Cardinals Prediction & Pick: Cardinals -1.5 (+158)
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